List of Haunted Mansion Portrait Characters
In the Haunted Mansion attraction at the Disney Parks, there are several portraits and planned portraits which portray several villains, some being historic, some being literary, some folkloric, some mythological and some being created originally for the Haunted Mansion with real-world motifs and literary coding. Stretching Room Portraits * The Tightrope Walker: A portrait of a beautiful woman that stretches to reveal she is standing on a tightrope about to snap and has a large Alligator waiting in the waters below, eagerly awaiting it's meal. The character's cannon name is Sally Slater although in live appearances she is called Daisy de la Cruz. * The Ambassador: A portrait of a distinguished gentleman who's portrait stretches to reveal he is wearing his boxers and standing atop a lit keg of dynamite. His name in the original script was revealed to be Alexander Nitrokoff in a deleted narration from the attraction. * The Black Widow: A portrait of an old woman holding a rose who is revealed to be sitting atop the tombstone of her late husband George who's grave's bust has a hatchet slammed into the forehead. The character in the portrait although originally planned to be called Widow Abigail Patecleaver was changed in 2006 to become the attic bride Constance Hatchaway with George having been the bride's fifth husband-turned-victim George Hightower. * The Quicksand Men: A portrait of a well dressed man revealed to be standing atop two other men slowly sinking into quicksand. Changing Portraits *[[Master Gracey|'Master Gracey']]: A Dorian Grey inspired portrait of the Haunted Mansion's previous owner, Master Gracey who transforms from a handsome young man to a withered old man to a skeleton. *'Medusa': A portrait of the gorgon Medusa from Ancient Greek mythology who changes from a beautiful greek woman standing in an ancient temple into a hideous monster with snakes for hair and large fangs. Her character originates from the character Medusa from Greek mythology where she was said to have been the beautiful and intelligent hight priestess of the goddess Athena before having inadvertently disrespected the goddess and was punished by having been transformed into a creature so hideous that anyone who looked upon her face was petrified to such a degree that they would transform into stone. In mythology Medusa was slain by the demigod Perseus who used a reflective shield to see her without directly looking at her face, allowing him to decapitate her with his sword. *'Ms. April December': A portrait of a beautiful young woman who slowly ages into a withered old woman. The portrait is inspired by Victorian motifs and displays a character original to the Haunted Mansion. Her portrait was removed in Disneyland in order to make way for the more popular portrait of Master Gracey from Florida and Florida's mansion followed suit by removing April December's changing portrait and instead hiding a non-changing portrait of April's elderly form in the Mansion. *'The Flying Dutchman': A portrait of depicting the folkloric ghost-ship the Flying Dutchman which changes from a sturdy ship sailing in clear waters into a derelict ghost ship sailing through a storm. The ship originates from 18th century nautical folklore where the Flying Dutchman was said to have once been a merchant ship captained by a stern man named Hendrick van der Decken who was well known for being the captain behind several of the fastest merchant voyages in the world with some stories even suggesting that the speed of the ship was the result of a faustian bargain which the captain had partook in. In 1641, the Captain attempted to sail directly through a hurricane in order to make it to Cape Hope in time. This resulted in the ship and it's crew disappearing off the face of the earth and becoming a ghost vessel as the captain refused to leave the mortal world until making it to Cape Hope despite the ship and it's crew being forever unable to make port. The ship is also said to be an omen of doom. *The Black Prince: A portrait of the historic British prince Sir Edward Duke of Cornwall who changes from a fearsome knight on horseback into a skeleton riding a skeletal horse. The portrait depicts the historic Edward the Black Prince who was a knighted British prince who fought during the 100 year war where he reportedly had single-handedly slaughtered the entire 3000 person population of the French town of Limoges because it was the hometown of a friend who had betrayed him. *'The WereCat': The portrait of an unnamed female were-cat who transforms from a beautiful young woman lounging on a couch into a ferocious anthropomorphic white-tiger. In the original concept art by Marc Davis, she was intended to transform into a black panther and this variation of the portrait can only be found in Disneyland Paris' Phantom Manor. Sinister Portraits *[[Ghost Host|'The Hatchet Man']]: A portrait depicting the Ghost Host's mortal form. *'Jack the Ripper': A portrait of notorious Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper who terrorized the streets of London during the 19th century and was never caught *'Count Dracula': A portrait of the famous literary vampire Count Vlad Dracula. This portrait was originally planned to be a changing portrait where Dracula would transform into a large bat-man hybrid. *'The Ogre': A portrait originally intended to portray the historic Russian occultist Grigori Rasputin but who was altered before release under the suggestion of Walt Disney who knew Rasputin still had living direct descendants and that it is likely they might sue the company for depicting the mad monk. This was also planned to be a changing portrait where Rasputin's eyes would widen and conjoin into one giant eye as a reference to how several records of those who knew Rasputin claimed that he had otherworldly eyes. *'The Mariner': A portrait intended to serve as a tribute to one of the Haunted Mansion's unused backstory which revolved around the story of a french-american pirate named Gideon Gorelieu. The portrait of the mariner portrays him as a ghost covered in kelp, barnacles and a starfish while standing in front of a capsized vessel. In the queue to Disney World's mansion, the character is named Captain Culpepper Clyne on a crypt and is said to have been a man who drowned in his own bathtub. *'The Arsonist': A portrait of a Dutch/Dutch-American man standing in front of burning village. He was originally planned to be a changing portrait who would transform from a man into a werewolf. *'The Witch of Walpurgis': A portrait of a more true to history witch with pagan elements. It was originally planned to be a changing portrait where the witch's head would become that of a goat. *'The Opera Glasses Lady': A portrait derived from concept art of the attic bride which depicts an oracle holding occult spectacles which typically are mistaken for opera glasses. *'The Couple': A portrait of a stern looking wealthy couple. The portrait was originally planned to be a changing portrait which would change to show the woman strangling her husband. Unused Portraits *'The Burning Miser and Satan': A proposed changing portrait which would have shows the a faustian bargain in which an old man sitting alongside his money would spontaneously combust leaving nothing but the Devil holding a contract which reads "SOLD". *'Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn': A changing portrait that would have shown King Henry VIII beside his second wife, Anne Boleyn only for the portrait to change and show Anne holding her own severed head. In real world history, Henry VIII was the horrid king of Britain during the 15th century who single handedly holds the record for most executions held under the rule of one monarch. In 1536, Henry ordered his then wife Anne Boleyn to be executed by beheading as she promised to sire him a son but instead gave birth to a daughter. *'Ivan the Terrible': A proposed portrait that would have portrayed Russia's monstrous first Tsar, Ivan the Terrible. *'Daphne': A changing portrait which would have depicted the beautiful Daphne from Greek mythology transforming into a tree. In Greek mythology, Daphne was a forest nymph who the Olympian god Apollo wished to capture and force to be his bride. Apollo chased Daphne through the forests in an effort to capture her, but desperate to escape Daphne begged her father the god of the river to save her from Apollo's advances and as such the river god turned Daphne into a tree so that Apollo couldn't have his way with her. *'Guy Fawkes': A portrait which would have depicted the famed 17th century revolutionary, Guy Fawkes holding a keg of gunpowder. Fawkes is most famous for having attempted the murder the entirety of the then corrupt British parliament by blowing up the parliament building as the government had passed extremist laws which made practice of non-protestant religions illegal. Category:Haunted Mansion Villains Category:Historical villians Category:Theme Park Villains